EA Admits Apex Legends Did Not Meet Expectations With Season 17

Since its launch in 2019, Apex Legends has skyrocketed to become one of the most popular battle royales out there. However, despite its initial success and popularity, the game has been struggling.

In EA’s own words, “new variations of gameplay and monetization” were not enough to meet company targets according to CEO Andrew Wilson in their latest earnings call with investors.

Stuart Canfield, EA’s CFO, expanded on the situation, explaining that Season 17’s underperformance was a large driving factor in the company’s net bookings falling below expectations.

“Apex Legends is a highly successful original IP for EA with a strong community of loyal core players. This quarter, net bookings were below expectations largely driven by underperformance from Season 17,” he said.

“As an evergreen live service that is constantly evolving, our teams continue to innovate on content and introduce new modes of play to engage a broader base of players across different geographies.”

He added: “To echo Andrew, we will continue to invest behind the talented team at Respawn to drive long-term expansion and growth of the franchise.”

Apex Legends Season 18 is set to kick off on August 8, with Revenant Reborn slated to be the latest addition to the battle royale.

One of the main reasons for Apex Legends’ underperformance is the lack of updates and new content. Players have long been complaining about the lack of updates, bug fixes, and new features.

The battle royale has not received any major updates or new content since the release of Season 17 on May 9, which has left players feeling bored and uninterested.

Unable to keep up with its competition has resulted in a decline in its player base. This lack of new content has caused many to opt for other games, such as Fortnite and Warzone, which offer more frequent game-changing updates, keeping it fresh for players.

Not only that, but players have complained about the matchmaking and ranking systems in Apex Legends, which have led to some frustrating gameplay experiences.

Overall, the future of Apex Legends is uncertain. However, going forward, the developers will take “a more measured approach for Apex Legends as the team applies learnings from Season 17 and introduces new modes of play across various markets,” according to the EA.